"The little guy only said his spectrum-mate's name once. I think it was Can-kree or some shit. I didn't bother asking with the look I was getting from him. But the little guy's name is Karkat." Dirk replied. "Sweet kid. About your age actually."

Dirk turned to Dave once the two turned the corner. "Though now that you say you got into it with the older one, I can see why I was getting the stink eye."

Dave tuned out to Dirk's words the moment he heand Karkat's name. He swore his heart stopped. The sick feeling increased ten-fold and his heart started up again, beating with enough fervour it probably could have fueled a jet-plane. Before he could think of what he was doing Dave tore off after the two trolls, pushing and shoving his way past human and troll alike to reach them.

He'd been searching for Karkat since he was born it felt like, never finding any evidence other than the admittedly faded memories of his friends to suggest that the troll wasn't just a dream or something he'd imagined. He hadn't given up finding him, but asking about Karkat and finding only disappointment had become such a given in his life Dave had begun to expect nothing else.

He rounded the corner he'd seen the two head down and stopped, scanning the streets for them. It was less crowded now that he was away from the aquarium, but he couldn't see hair or nubby horn of the two. "Fuck," he muttered darkly, the sick feeling growing into an actual nausea now. "Karkat!" He began sprinting down the streets, calling the troll's name, searching frantically. He couldn't lose him now, not when he'said gotten so close to finding him after all this time.

Dirk wasn't expecting Dave to take off in a dead sprint. He swore under his breath, always mindful of children that might be around him, and took off after Dave. He finally caught up with him around the corner, grabbing Dave's shoulder. "Dave! What the hell! You can't just take off and scream some troll's name after the shit that's happened today!"

Dirk forced Dave to turn and look at him, holding both his shoulders now. "Deep breaths. Calm your fucking ass and tell me what the fuck is up with you"

Still caught up in his search for Karkat, Dave struggled against Dirk's hold for a moment, still searching the streets as if Karkat would show up if he looked hard enough. When Dirk's words reached his ears he calmed if only enough to take a few deep breaths and run a hand through his hair.

"That troll, Karkat, I know him, or did, or, fuck, something, I don't know anymore. I've been searching for him, I was convinced he wasn't real but now here he is only I've lost him again," Dave explained as best he could. His mind was racing and his heart still beating too quickly, every small movement out of the corner of his eye convincing him it was Karkat, that he'd heard him yelling his name.

"Dave, relax." Dirk practically comanded him. "You don't have to worry, I have his chumhandle. If he really means that much to you, I'll help you get in contact with him. Alright?" His grip on Dave's shoulders tightened. "But you have to calm down. Running through the streets screaming his name won't help you. He doesn't have it easy here, and that sort of shit is only going to make it worse."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." His hand found his way back to his hair, messing it even further. Behind his shades Dave closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm his thudding heart. If Dirk had his chumhandle then it was okay, Karkat wasn't out of his reach forever, just for the moment. It would be okay, he'didn't get to talk to him even if he couldn't find him now. It would be all right.

"Okay, I'm good. Lost my head for a moment," he laughed, the sound strained even to his own ears. "Let's get out of here before someone gets pissed at me for disturbing the peace."

"Hold up. I want to hit up the gift shop before we go." Dirk protested slightly. "Something I need to get"

-----------

Dirk walked into the apartment without a care in the world, leaving the door to Dave as he proudly bore his bag of goodies and a pair of gaudy sunglasses made to look like the jaws of sharks, complete with red coloring on the tips of the teeth that surrounded the lenses. He dug a plush shark out of his bag and tossed it onto the futon next to Cal. "Bro, we're back" Dirk called.

Dave flopped onto the couch next to the C-man. On second though he put a bit more distance between the two of them. He was beyond sure there was nothing up with Cal, but the puppet still freaked him out with how often he'd woken in the middle of the night to see blank glass eyes that had been left staring at him as he slept. Bro hadn't shown up even after Dirk called for him. It was possible he'd gone out, but much more likely that he was hiding in the apartment somewhere waiting to make one of them shit themselves from fear.

"Home sweet home, looks like Bro's not around and I've got a date with my laptop screen, so if you want to give me those letters we can both get on with our nights."

He'd known it was coming, but Bro's abrupt arrival in the room still caught him by surprise. "Shit Bro!" He complained, to no one in particular, as the two elder Striders were caught up in conversation, hand held to his heart.

"Don't listen to him, he wasn't even there," he butted in with once the beating of his heart had gone back down to a more normal pace. "Some short, shouted troll tried starting a fight with me, it was a total joke. I just wanted to ask the guy about someone he might have known and he went crazy. You see what he did to my shirt?" Dave held the ripped collar away from him for Bro to see, made extra sure he saw the retro Mario characters on the front. "This shirt was gold, gotta expect me to be a it the salty about it."

"That also brings the point of where your shades went and why are you wearing those monstrosities" Bro continued

"I gave them to a little guy who had been crying to help him be chill as fuck. And these are for irony." Dirk replied.

"Alright. Kudos." Bro nodded before turning back to Dave. "As for you, if you didn't try and hop on any troll dick you ran into, I'd be more inclined to believe you. You're lucky he didn't do worse, trolls have claws man."

"I know Bro, I'm all caught up on my mandatory knowledge of troll anatomy and biology, I know all about their claws and collapsing and expanding bladder, only gotta make sure I bring my bandaid with me next time I get into a little scuffle," Dave said, sighing. Dirk hadn't done anything to get scolded for, but just once he'did like to see his opinion differ from Bro's. "So if we are all finally caught up and on the same track, hand over the chumhandle Dirk. This cannot wait any longer than it already has, I'm about ready to die of impatience here, I can feel myself actually getting closer to exploding with each second."

"It would probably be best if he was eased into a conversation with you,don't you think? It would be sort of shitty if I just handed over his chum handle to essentially a stranger." Dirk pointed out. "Tell you what, my laptop is still on the desk in our room, he should be messaging me soon, and I need to shower. Just make like the nosey little brother and get into my stuff" He set his bag of goodies on the coffee table. "That way neither of us are creeps, and you get what you want."

"You're both still weird. You especially for thinking the whole thing through,Dirk." Bro stated with a snicker

"Aye Aye sor, enjoy your water torture," Dave said, scrambling up from his seat to dash into their room. Dirk's laptop was opened and unlocked, a small miracle because Dirk had already disappeared into the bathroom for the first of several hours he would be missing for, and Dave had as of yet been able to figure out his brother's password on his own.

Pesterchat was already open to an older message with Dirk's friend Roxy, nothing interesting there. A flashing icon let Dave know Jakes was trying to contact Dirk, but other than that there was nothing new. Dirk had taken the handle with him, and trying the handle he remembered as Karkat's was still greyed out and useless. Dave sighed and fished out his phone, texting John between glances at the computer screen.

Dave didn't have to wait long. It was only five or so minutes before a message popped up from a new chumhandle.

karcinoGenesist began pestering timeusTestified.

KG: DIRK?KG: I GOT HOME ALRIGHT.KG: THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT SOONER, BUT KANKRI WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WAS OKAY.KG: AND HE ALSO TOOK ME SOMEPLACE FOR FOOD AS AN APOLOGY FOR MAKING ME THINK HE LEFT ME.KG: AND ALSO BECAUSE HE'S A FUCKING BULGE MUNCHER AND WANTED TO INTERROGATE ME ABOUT YOU.

Dave sprang upright at the sound of a new message, earning himself one banged up leg in his struggle to get to the keyboard. His heart was beating in a way that had to be bad for him again and a fierce sweat abruptly started up shop on his palms. Those he wiped off on his jeans while beneath his shades his eyes scanned over the words on the screen, unable to believe he was actually seeing this.

TT: karkatTT: this is you right? im not getting punked again am i?TT: this is dave

In the time span of oh so many minutes, Dave swore he experienced all life had to offer. His heart soared and dropped, and the range of emotions he experienced at any given time tripled, leaving him with joy and actual hope one second, and the feeling of being crushed the next.

TT: you dont know me

Several moment passed wherein Dave stared at the screen, at the only tangible way he could prove the dreams and memories he had of a life that was his but not and found himself unable to type anything after. He had expected to ever find Karkat, or to find that the troll had never existed in the first place. Hadn't prepared himself for it, but had expected it. Never had he contemplated finding the troll he remembered and learning those memories were his and his only.

TT: nevermind, dirks in the shower, im sure hell get back to you when he gets out

KG: WAITKG: I ASKED DAVE WHO, AND YOU DIDN'T ANSWER.KG: YOU ALSO DIDN'T ANSWER HOW YOU KNOW ME.KG: I KNOW A DAVE, BUT HOW DO I KNOW YOU'RE MY DAVE?KG: DOX ME ONCE, SHAME THE FUCK OUY OF YOU. DOX ME TWICE, WE'LL I'M SURE YOU KNOW WHERE THIS GOES.KG: TELL ME SOMETHING ONLY A FRIEND WOULD KNOW.

Dave stared hard at the computer screen, frowning. The troll on the other end sure sounded a lot like Karkat, and it made sense that he'd be suspicious, but the anxious bad feeling from earlier hadn't quite disappeared.

TT: we played a gameTT: i don't remember much of it, but we played a shitty game and it fucked us all. we got stuck together on a ship? or somethingTT: you spent what had to have been about 80% of all of your time just watching romcoms, never wanted to hang out with anyoneTT: so I got a copy of titanic for you to watch, thought you'd enjoy the hell out of it. but instead you just sat there bitching throughout the entire thing about how ridiculous the relationship between jack and rose was, only to spend the entire last half hour or so bawling your eyes out

The memories Dave had of that time were all faded and unfocused, hard to tell if it had ever actually happened even with verification from his friends that they recalled something similar. He tried not to dwell on them too long, because thinking back to that time hurt. Talking about it now to some maybe-stranger hurt a lot. He waited with baited breath to see how KG would answer.

TT: look man i thought the same thing for the longest time, dirk didnt remember anything and i couldnt remember anything in the morning even though i was dreaming every nightTT: but im not the only one whos been dreaming about this stuffTT: we were thereTT: you and me and rose and john and jadeTT: your friends too. terezi, kanaya, vriska, and that clown fucker

KG: I DON'T KNOW WHO THOSE PEOPLE ARE.KG: I VAGUELY REMEMBER OTHERS IN MY DREAMSKG: BUT YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT EVER TALKS.KG: OR LOOKS AT ME LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO ACTUALLY SEE YOUR FACE.KG: FOR THE LONGEST TIME ALL I COULD REMEMBER WAS YOUR CHUM HANDLEKG: BUT YOU NEVER LOGGED ON, SO I COULD NEVER FIND YOU.

TT: fuck karkat ive been searching for you for agesTT: ive been here this whole time trying to get in contact with you. for a long time i couldnt remember your handle, but john had a dream about you one night. i couldnt get into contact with you though, your handle was always inactiveTT: i didnt think you were real. the others remembered you too, but it was like you disappeared off the face of the planet

KG: I HAD TO CHANGE MY HANDLE WHEN I WAS SIX SWEEPS, THEN AGAIN WHEN I WAS SEVEN.KG: THE WORLD ISN'T NICE TO MUTANT BLOODS.KG: IT'S BARELY BETTER THAN ALTERNIA. KG: THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS WE'RE NOT CULLED ON SIGHT.KG: I DON'T HAVE FRIENDS BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT THE HUMANS SAY, TROLLS ARE STILL FOLLOWING THE HEMOSPECTRUM, THE OLDER TROLLS ESPECIALLY. KG: THE 10 SWEEP OLDS STILL REMEMBER ALTERNIA.